Author of Saxon historical fiction, 20th-century historical mysteries, and Saxon historical non-fiction. Book reviewer and blog host.
It’s the first day of the blog tour for Warriors of Iron, the second book in the Dark Age Chronicles Trilogy. I’m sharing a recording of me ‘trying’ to say the character names correctly #newrelease #MenOfIron #WarriorsOfIron #histfic
Sharon Beyond the Books Review
Let us Talk of Many Things Review
Blog links
https://amzn.to/4n5Eqbj (the less sweary version)
There are also special edition hardback formats available directly from me for The Last King and The Last Warrior. Follow this link to discover them.
I’m delighted to share my review for The Players Act 1: All the World’s A Stage by Amy Sparkes #historicalfiction #bookreview
How far would you go to save what you truly love?
England, 1715.
When society doesn’t understand you, and your family is out of the picture, a strolling theatre company could be your perfect home…
Ambitious lead actor Thomas is determined to reach Drury Lane and prove to his father that he is not a failure.
Fierce Caroline has a traumatic past and is determined to protect the company which saved her.
Kind-hearted Annie just wants to look after her found family.
So, when their heartbroken manager Robert is injured and decides to fold the struggling company, the players are resolved to change his mind, whatever the cost. Unfortunately for them, the odds are stacked against them. They’ve lost their stage, they still haven’t got a skull for Hamlet, and flamboyant ex-member Piero is hunting them down, with a spot of revenge on his mind…
Is it time for the final bow?
The Players Act 1: All The World’s A Stage gives voice to the forgotten strolling players of the 18th century in this fun, uplifting, and page-turning read.
WHAT TO EXPECT:
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-players-act-1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Players-Act-All-Worlds-Stage-ebook/dp/B0DY8CM3LX
https://www.amazon.com/Players-Act-All-Worlds-Stage-ebook/dp/B0DY8CM3LX
The Players Act 1 follows our cast of strolling players from a hurried exit from their latest performance. Dejected and ejected, Thomas decides on a desperate course of action to save his dream of becoming an actor and treading the boards at Drury Lane. Still, he’s forgotten that not everyone in his family shares his dream.
And it’s not only Thomas. We’re treated to the thoughts and feelings of many of our cast, as they endeavour to make the seemingly impossible happen to reverse the strolling players’ bad fortune.
There’s much desperation for our characters, much hope and laughter, and even more disappointment as the storyline rumbles towards its conclusion. The reader, like the main characters, is desperately hoping for some stroke of fortune for our players. Will they earn it, or will this comedy end in tragedy? Read on to find out.
Amy was born in Eastbourne, England, where the sea and South Downs encouraged her love of the outdoors and nurtured her wildness. Her childhood was filled with folk music, caravans and imagination, and she was always dreaming up stories and characters – usually when she was meant to be doing something else.
She enjoys stories that explore both comedy and tragedy. She is a New York Times bestselling author and her work includes THE HOUSE AT THE EDGE OF MAGIC series, and the picture books for BBC’s THE REPAIR SHOP. THE PLAYERS is her debut novel for adults.
Amy now lives in Devon with her husband and six children. When she isn’t writing, Amy enjoys drinking tea, climbing trees and playing the piano, although disappointingly she is yet to master doing all three at once.
It’s happy release day to Warriors of Iron, the second book in the Dark Age Chronicles Trilogy. I’m sharing some photos from my visit to Sutton Hoo #newrelease #MenOfIron #WarriorsOfIron #histfic
As part of my research for the trilogy, I visited Sutton Hoo in July 2024. While it was a fascinating place to visit (see the images below of the surviving grave mounds), it was actually something else my Canadian guide told me that resonated with me for the series. It was that while this area gets a lot of interest, a further gravesite has also been found under where the car park for the visitor centre is now. This gravesite contained thirty-six graves (I think I’ve got the figures correct), twenty-nine of which were burials while the rest were cremations. The car park burials are believed to date to between 510 and c.600, and so before the Sutton Hoo burial of such fame. Fourteen of the graves were warrior graves, buried with shield and spear.
You might wonder why that intrigued me so much, and you’d be correct to do so. But, of course, I wanted to write the series before the advent of what we know as Saxon England, and this was therefore where I needed to be researching. The ‘shiny’ helmet and sword (reconstructions, I know), have a strange allure for us as we live in a time where we don’t need such things (hopefully), but did the earlier warriors have the same? This trip to Sutton Hoo certainly influenced the way I wrote about Wærmund and his fellow warriors. And the trip to the Norfolk Broads reminded me of how pesky bugs can be, and how much they like to nibble me. I came straight home and added that to the storyline. It always pays to remember the little elements that make characters feel very real to readers.
Blog links
https://books2read.com/Men-of-Iron
https://books2read.com/WarriorsofIron
It’s happy release day to Warriors of Iron, the second book in the Dark Age Chronicles Trilogy #newrelease #MenOfIron #histfic
Listen to me waffle about it.
Blog links
https://books2read.com/Men-of-Iron
https://books2read.com/WarriorsofIron
A princess with a scandalous secret. A duke desperate for a wealthy bride. A debutante torn between duty and passion.
Newly widowed Princess Adelheid Kinsky thought she was free—until she learns of her abusive late husband’s final betrayal. The son she believed dead, the illegitimate child of a forbidden love, still lives. To secure his future, she must marry within a month—without revealing the truth. Her best prospect? The Duke of Hartland, a notorious rake drowning in debt.
Meanwhile, Hartland sets his sights on Olivia Fontenoy, an heiress whose fortune could solve all his problems. But innocent Olivia dreams of music, not marriage, and seizes the chance to perform in disguise at the King’s Theatre—unwittingly ensnaring everyone she knows in scandal.
As deception and desire collide, Olivia finds herself drawn to Hartland’s closest friend, the quiet yet passionate Marquess of Lewiston—a man who offers her something far more profound than mere security. And for Adelheid, an unexpected alliance may hold the key to her dreams.
With a surprising ending worthy of grand opera, The Soprano’s Daring Duke is a sweeping Regency tale of love, risk, and the courage to defy expectations.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DZHXZZ6H
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0DZHXZZ6H
The Soprano’s Daring Duke is a Regency romance with a difference. It starts with a bang as we’re introduced to Adelheid at her husband’s deathbed, where she reacts, not with grief, but rather delight, until the terms of his will reveal her dilemma.
Olivia is our second female lead, who, awkward and too tall, and not at all the Regency ideal wife, longs for something other than marriage, but is being pushed into the marriage market by her mother. The scene is set, and all the reader need do is wait for our male lead to appear with his own Regency problems and dilemmas.
This is the second of Susanna Dunlap’s Regency novels I’ve read and it will delight fans of the genre while placing our main players in situations a little different to those we might expect, and all with a delightful ring of authenticity and dilemma.
Check out my review for The Dressmaker’s Secret Earl
Susanne Dunlap is the award-winning author of over a dozen historical novels, as well as an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach in fiction, nonfiction, and memoir. Her love of history began in academia with a PhD in music history from Yale. Her novel THE PORTRAITIST won first prize in its category in the 2022 Eric Hoffer Book Awards, and was a finalist in the CIBA Goethe Awards and the Foreword Indies Awards. THE ADORED ONE: A NOVEL OF LILLIAN LORRAINE AND FLORENZ ZIEGFELD, won first place in its category in the 2023 CIBA Goethe Awards for Late Historical Fiction. Today, she lives, coaches, and writes in beautiful Biddeford, Maine.
It’s happy release day to Men of Iron, the first book in the Dark Age Chronicles Trilogy #newrelease #MenOfIron #histfic
Listen to me waffle about it.
During Britannia’s tribal age only the strongest prevail…
Britain AD541
Seeress Meddi has been restored to her rightful position of influence within the Eorlingas tribe. But a heavy cloud hangs over the tribe’s survival with the escape of the treacherous Elen who seeks to exact a bloody vengeance following Meddi’s reinstatement and her downfall.
Meddi knows Elen will return to settle the blood feud and the tribe must be ready to face this deadly threat with iron. They must toil day and night to harness the power of the lost magiks to make the weapons needed to overpower Elen.
Meanwhile, Wærmund, a warrior of Saxon descent, has escaped his enforced captivity and vows vengeance against his captors. He too hungers for the promise of sharp blades and travels West to find those who can fashion iron into blades sharp enough to kill. But when a lone woman befriends the band of warriors, promising him even more than that, he’s beguiled by her tale of deceit amongst her own tribe, so reminiscent of his own.
Unbeknown, Meddi and Wærmund share a common enemy and one who is just as belligerent as they are…
If you’ve been with Coelwulf, Rudolf, Icel, Edmund and Pybba since the beginning, then you’re probably with me in trying to work out how five years have gone by since the release of The Last Warrior, which from memory has a bit of a shocking ending (but no other spoilers here).
There are now ten books in all, as well as a short story collection, Coelwulf’s Company, and the prequel series featuring a young Icel, the Eagle of Mercia Chronicles (check out the stories featuring young Icel – if you know, you know, and if you don’t yet know, you’re going to want to find out.)
Fans of the series each have their own favourite, from the somewhat difficult Haden (Coelwulf’s horse), to Edmund, young Rudolf and the difficult-to-please Icel, as well as Pybba. I also think many love Edmund’s brother, Hereman, who is someone who thinks after the punches have been thrown:) The Viking raider enemy also have a few fans, and I did very much enjoy recreating these characters.
If you’ve not yet discovered The Mercian Kingdom: The Ninth Century series, then you’re in for a treat, as long as you’re not easily offended by foul language and violence – although if you are, there are Cleaner versions available without quite so much swearing. You’re never going to get away from the violence with this band of miscreants. Follow this link, as they can be a bit tricky to find on Amazon.
The Last King books are available in eBook, paperback, and hardback formats, and in eBook only for the version without the swearing. Or, check out the box set below, which also contains the versions with the language dialled down by a factor or about 450 (yes, I do run a check to ensure my characters have been as foul-mouthed as readers expect). You can hear me discussing the series and the swearing on the Rock, Paper, Swords podcast with Matthew Harffy and Steven A. McKay.
There are also special edition hardback formats available directly from me. Follow this link to discover them.
It’s happy release day to Men of Iron, the first book in the Dark Age Chronicles Trilogy #newrelease #MenOfIron #histfic
Listen to me waffle about it.
During Britannia’s tribal age only the strongest prevail…
Britain AD541
Seeress Meddi has been restored to her rightful position of influence within the Eorlingas tribe. But a heavy cloud hangs over the tribe’s survival with the escape of the treacherous Elen who seeks to exact a bloody vengeance following Meddi’s reinstatement and her downfall.
Meddi knows Elen will return to settle the blood feud and the tribe must be ready to face this deadly threat with iron. They must toil day and night to harness the power of the lost magiks to make the weapons needed to overpower Elen.
Meanwhile, Wærmund, a warrior of Saxon descent, has escaped his enforced captivity and vows vengeance against his captors. He too hungers for the promise of sharp blades and travels West to find those who can fashion iron into blades sharp enough to kill. But when a lone woman befriends the band of warriors, promising him even more than that, he’s beguiled by her tale of deceit amongst her own tribe, so reminiscent of his own.
Unbeknown, Meddi and Wærmund share a common enemy and one who is just as belligerent as they are…
Blog links
https://mjporterauthor.blog/2015/03/28/a-discussion-of-early-anglo-saxon-sources/
Foul play at the sheep show…
Tensions are high at the Three Counties Show when accusations of cheating add fuel to a longstanding feud. For Jude Gray, whose only hope was to not make a fool of herself showing her Kerry Hill sheep, farming life has never been so dramatic.
When a body is found, belonging to one of the competitors, there is no shortage of suspects. Every sheep farmer in this close-knit community has a motive and beneath their show-ready smiles, they all have something to hide.
Experience has taught Jude that when there’s a murderer at large, nobody is truly safe. And with secrets simmering beneath the surface, this may be her most challenging investigation yet. Can she unearth the truth before it’s too late?
A gripping new instalment in the Malvern Farm Mystery series, perfect for fans of Frances Evesham, Merryn Allingham, and Faith Martin.
https://mybook.to/KillerCountyShow
Killer at the County Show by Kate Wells is the fifth book in the Malvern Farm Mystery series and I’ve read four of them (see my reviews below).
It’s a delight to return to Jude and her farm and family, and hasn’t she just got involved in yet another murder mystery, all while attending the County Show to exhibit her sheep.
This is another welcome addition to the series. I always enjoy the fact that I never quite manage to guess who the murderer was in every book, and the plot is twisty enough to keep me reading. I will certainly be reading book 6.
Kate Wells is the author of a number of well-reviewed books for children, and is now writing a new cosy crime series set in the Malvern hills, inspired by the farm where she grew up.
MJ Porter 